82 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



neighbourhood of York) find, is suffused with dark olive-green ; 

 we rarely see the white-crested form. I took thirteen of this 

 species at sugar one season, some years ago, and of these ten 

 were olive-green with no white markings." Mr. Dobree says 

 that " In the East Eiding of Yorkshire A. ligustri is not a 

 common insect, but a variety in which the white is totally 

 wanting and replaced by olive-green is equally common with the 

 type." Herr A. Hoffman (Hanover) writes me : — " I have got 

 ligustri from Vienna of a greenish-brown colour, with no white 

 markings, — the place where the white markings ought to be are 

 only a little lighter than the other part of the anterior wings." 

 The occurrence of this variety, in such widely different localities 

 as Yorkshire and Vienna, is very interesting. 



Acronycta, Och., rumicis, L. 



[Before dealing with the varieties of A. rumicis, it is necessary 

 to enter at some length on the consideration of associating the 

 var. salicis of Curtis with this species or with A. menyanthidis. 

 I have gone carefully through all the literature which I can find 

 on the subject, the following being the summary : — 



• Mr. Stainton, in the ' Manual,' vol. i. p. 183, treats it as 

 a distinct species, and says that it closely resembles rumicis, but 

 is smaller and darker. 



Newman figures it as a variety of rumicis, * British Moths,' 

 p. 255. 



Dr. Staudinger quotes it as an aberration of menyanthidis, 

 with the following synonymy and description : " ab. salicis, 

 Curt., Gn. ? cuphorhice, Wood, obscurior, alse anteriores fere 

 unicoloribus ; locality Anglia." 



In Humphrey & Westwood, 'British Moths,' p. 197, we find : 

 — " Varieties of menyanthidis occur in which the ordinary strigse 

 are much more distinct and brown, forming broad patches on 

 the wing, the inner margin at the base of the third striga being 

 marked with a more distinct lunular patch. Such a variety 

 constitutes the A. salicis of Curtis." 



Mr. South, in his synonymic list, calls salicis, Curt., a 

 synonym of rumicis, and then directly after (on the same page) 

 calls it a variety of menyanthidis. 



At p. 7 of the ' Substitute ' (1856-57) the late Mr. Nicholas 

 Cooke wrote : — " At p. 183 of the ' Manual ' I see Mr. Stainton 



